During the Bangladesh war in 1971, a woman’s husband was shot dead by violent men. The woman came to Bengal to save her life. Many years have passed. Now, the woman Pushparani Mandal from Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas in West Bengal claims that she is around 95 years old.
Even at this age, old Pushparani works tirelessly from morning to evening. In the afternoon, the old woman can be seen near the ticket counter of platform number one in Madhyamgram. With trembling hands, she mashes the potatoes, mixes the tamarind balls with water and sells the delicious puchka (golgappas) to the customers. She also said that she had a daughter but she got her married by selling puchka in this way.
Now, her daughter lives in Siliguri. But the old woman does not want to be a burden on her daughter’s family. So she is working tirelessly every day to earn something by selling puchka in Gujran.
The woman earns Rs 100 to 200 every day and stays in a small makeshift house behind the Subhashpalli area next to Madhyamgram railway station. Besides, she eats bread and water in the morning and evening on most days. In the afternoon, she fills her stomach with a meal of fish broth and rice in the afternoon. But day by day, her age is evident on her face and her body is also getting weak, as per Local18.
Pushparani Mandal is one among lakhs of refugees who survived the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. During the war, an estimated 10 million refugees fled from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to India.
The events of the year 1971 had significant geopolitical consequences. They led to the disintegration of the Pakistani state, created the new country of Bangladesh, and involved the United Nations in one of its earliest and largest refugee repatriation campaigns.
Comments
0 comment